Yuan Baojing

Case overview

Yuan Baojing (simplified Chinese: 袁宝璟; traditional Chinese: 袁寶璟) (1966 – March 17, 2006) was the president of the Jianhao Group and was described as Beijing's wealthiest multi-millionaire. He was executed by lethal injection on March 17, 2006, fifteen minutes after a death sentence was pronounced by a Liaoyang court.

Timeline

• 1992 — Yuan Baojing registered his Beijing Jianhao Industrial Development Company in Beijing's Huairou District.
• 1996 — His assets were valued at more than 3 billion yuan as of 1996, and he donated 10 million yuan to set up a scholarship to help poor university students.
• Late 1996 — Yuan Baojing told Yuan Baoqi and Wang at a Beijing hotel that businessman Liu Han's manipulation of a broker had caused him to lose nearly 100 million yuan in Sichuan Province.
• February 1997 — Contract killer Li Haiyang fired two shots at Liu Han in a Sichuan hotel; the bullets missed Liu Han and Li fled.
• Six months after 1992 — Yuan Baojing made more than 2 million yuan of profits.
• 1997 — Starting from 1997, Yuan Baojing turned down Wang Xing's requests to borrow money, and Wang Xing threatened many times to blow the whistle on his crime of organizing the attempted murder.
• Early 2001 — Yuan Baoqi suggested killing Wang Xing; Yuan Baojing agreed and gave Yuan Baoqi 300,000 yuan to pay the contract killers.
• November 15, 2001 — Yuan Baosen and Yuan Baofu stabbed Wang Xing repeatedly, leaving him seriously injured; they fled.
• October 4, 2003 — Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen waited near midnight for Wang Xing after he left a majhong games shop in Liaoyang; as Wang Xing opened the gate to his apartment building, they shot him twice with a hunting rifle.
• October 2003 — Wang Xing was murdered; Yuan Baojing and others were later sentenced for this October 2003 murder.
• November 24, 2003 — Liaoyang police arrested Yuan Baojing on suspicion of hiring a hitman to murder.
• January 13, 2005 — Yuan Baojing, together with his brother Yuan Baoqi and Yuan Baosen, were sentenced to death by the Intermediate Court of Liaoyang; Yuan Baofu was given a suspended death sentence.
• January 2005 — Yuan Baojing was convicted of hiring a hit man in a failed plot to kill a business partner who had caused Yuan's company to lose 90 million yuan in futures trading.
• October 14, 2005 — Yuan Baojing was due to die by firing squad; after the date passed, the sentence was not carried out.
• Two days later (after October 14, 2005) — Yuan's lawyer told China Business News that Yuan Baojing had transferred all his overseas assets, said to be worth tens of billions of yuan, to his wife.
• March 17, 2006 — Yuan Baojing was executed by lethal injection in Liaoning Province.
• March 18, 2006 — Reporting described the lethal injection execution of Yuan Baojing, Yuan Baoqi, and Yuan Baosen, and the suspended death sentence of Yuan Baofu.

The offence

Yuan Baojing was sentenced to death for the October 2003 murder of Wang Xing. The murder was described as a contract killing in which Wang Xing had helped Yuan Baojing in an attempted murder of a businessman in Sichuan Province. Yuan Baojing was described as having hired a hitman to kill a rival businessman, with the aim linked to financial losses attributed to the businessman’s actions in relation to futures trading.

Investigation and arrests

Liaoyang police arrested Yuan Baojing on November 24, 2003, on suspicion of “hiring a hitman to murder”. The case involved allegations that Wang Xing later threatened to blow the whistle on Yuan Baojing's organization of an attempted murder. The subsequent search for Wang Xing's killer ended up at the Yuan family's door, and the Yuans were arrested.

Trial

Yuan Baojing was convicted in January 2005. On January 13, 2005, Yuan Baojing, together with his brother Yuan Baoqi and Yuan Baosen, were sentenced to death by the Intermediate Court of Liaoyang. Yuan Baofu, another cousin, was given a suspended death sentence.

In March 2006, a Liaoyang court upheld the death sentence handed down last year, and the executions took place shortly after a public trial in Liaoyang City. News reporting described Yuan Baojing as appearing “very agitated” as he was escorted out of the Liaoyang City Intermediate People's Court, and he was executed about 15 minutes later.

“I refuse to accept it. I will inform against someone,” the Beijing Youth Daily quoted Yuan as saying after the judge announced the final decision.

The charge cited for the execution was “intentional murder”. In reporting, the execution notice stated that Yuan Baojing and two accomplices were put to death by lethal injection shortly after the public trial.

Sentencing

Yuan Baojing was sentenced to death. Yuan Baoqi and Yuan Baosen were also executed by lethal injection shortly after the trial. A fourth criminal, Yuan Baofu, was sentenced to death but the sentence was suspended for two years, with reporting that it would be commuted to life imprisonment if he was a model inmate over two years.

Outcome

Yuan Baojing was executed by lethal injection on March 17, 2006, about fifteen minutes after the death sentence was pronounced. Yuan Baoqi and Yuan Baosen were executed by lethal injection shortly after the trial.

Background and related events

Jianhao business and financial losses

Yuan Baojing registered his Beijing Jianhao Industrial Development Company in Beijing's Huairou District in 1992. Six months later he made more than 2 million yuan of profits. He then invested in securities and bonds markets and acquired more than 60 companies. His assets were valued at more than 3 billion yuan as of 1996, and reporting described the assets as comprising equities including a 40 percent stake in an Indonesian oil company held by Yuan through a Hong Kong firm.

In late 1996, Yuan Baojing believed businessman friend Liu Han's manipulation of a broker caused him to lose nearly 100 million yuan in Sichuan Province. Wang Xing suggested punishing Liu Han. Yuan offered a reward of 160,000 yuan for murdering Liu Han.

Attempted murder of Liu Han; blackmail

In February 1997, contract killer Li Haiyang fired two shots at Liu Han in a Sichuan hotel; the bullets missed Liu Han and Li Haiyang fled. Li Haiyang was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1997, Yuan Baojing turned down Wang Xing's requests to borrow money, and Wang Xing threatened many times to blow the whistle on Yuan Baojing’s crime of organizing the attempted murder.

Killing of Wang Xing (stabbing and shooting)

Early 2001, Yuan Baoqi suggested killing Wang Xing. Yuan Baojing agreed and gave Yuan Baoqi 300,000 yuan to pay contract killers. Yuan Baoqi found Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen.

On November 15, 2001, Yuan Baosen and Yuan Baofu stabbed Wang Xing repeatedly, leaving him seriously injured shortly after Wang Xing left home; the duo fled. Yuan Baoqi gave Yuan Baofu 90,000 yuan. Wang Xing continued threatening Yuan Baojing, and Yuan Baoqi paid Yuan Baofu another 180,000 yuan to “finish the work.”

Yuan Baofu and Yuan Baosen waited for Wang Xing near midnight on October 4, 2003, when he left a majhong games shop in Liaoyang. As Wang Xing opened the gate to his apartment building, they shot him twice with a hunting rifle.

Wife, assets, and execution delay

Yuan Baojing’s wife, Zhuoma, was described as an ethnic Tibetan choreographer who went by one name and as a well-known Tibetan dancer. Reporting stated she was not allowed to be present at the execution, and that she was seen sobbing in a car outside the execution site and later received Yuan Baojing's ashes from the courts.

Reporting described an execution delay and subsequent execution on March 17, 2006. As he was about to be taken from his prison cell to be shot, an urgent order halted the execution on October 14, 2005, and a new ruling was required. Yuan's wife was described as transferring ownership of shares worth 49.5 billion yuan to the government, and it was reported that the transfer happened the day before the execution date.

The assets were described as including equities comprising a 40 percent stake in an Indonesian oil company held by Yuan through a Hong Kong firm, reckoned to be worth about 50 billion yuan at current market value. Yuan’s lawyer, Liu Jiazong, was quoted in reporting as saying that Yuan Baojing also transferred bank accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere totaling “huge” amounts of money.

Zhuoma told China Business News that she spoke with her husband just before he was about to be taken out for execution, and that he wished for her to donate all his wealth to the state. She said that since his life was saved for the time being, she would spare no effort in attempting to reverse the verdict outright. Speculation was reported about why the execution was halted, but the facts included were that the urgent order halted the execution and that Yuan Baojing’s assets were transferred to his wife and then to the state.

Yuan's lawyer, Liu Jiazong, was reported to have declined to reveal the exact figures of the overseas assets but described them as sufficient to make Zhuo Ma Asia's richest woman. Reporting also described that Forbes for 2004 named Larry Yung (Larry Rong Zhijian) as China's richest man with assets of US$1.5 billion.

Education, career, and charity

Reporting described Yuan Baojing being born in 1966 to a poor worker's family in Liaoyang city in Liaoning. He passed entrance exams in 1985 to the Beijing-based Chinese University of Politics and Law. After graduation four years later, he joined the securities department of the China Construction Bank. He was described as making a record of 67 million yuan in a single day's trading volume.

In 1992, he quit his job with CCB to set up his Jianhao company in a suburb of Beijing, renting eight hectares of farm land and growing wheat seeds before reorienting Jianhao’s business to focus on securities. Reporting stated he helped restructure SOEs into joint-stock companies, acquiring stakes and arranging initial public offerings. Yuan donated 10 million yuan in 1996 to set up a scholarship.

People involved

• Yuan Baojing — president of the Jianhao Group; executed by lethal injection on March 17, 2006.
• Wang Xing — murder victim; was linked to an attempted murder of a businessman in Sichuan Province and later blackmailed Yuan Baojing.
• Yuan Baoqi — brother of Yuan Baojing; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on March 17, 2006.
• Yuan Baosen — cousin of Yuan Baojing; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on March 17, 2006.
• Yuan Baofu — cousin; sentenced to death with suspension for two years.
• Zhuoma — Yuan Baojing’s wife; described as a well-known Tibetan dancer/choreographer who went by one name; later received Yuan Baojing’s ashes and was described as attempting to reverse the verdict.
• Li Haiyang — contract killer; fired two shots at Liu Han in February 1997 and was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• Liu Han — businessman in Sichuan Province; described as the person against whom a murder plot was attempted and in relation to which futures trading losses were attributed.

Other details

Yuan Baojing was described as having been wealthiest among convicts executed in the People’s Republic of China history. Reporting described that he was registered as a Liaoyang native, and that his execution occurred shortly after a final decision by the court. The murder victim was described as having been involved in the attempted murder of a businessman in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province. Reporting also stated that Yuan’s wife was not allowed to be present at the execution and that she later received his ashes from the courts.